Coyotes 1, Stars 0

Associated Press
DALLAS –Jason LaBarbera stopped 30 shots for his fifth career shutout, Kyle Turris scored a goal in the second period, and the Coyotes beat the Dallas Stars, 1-0, on Sunday night at the American Airlines Center.

Winning the game meant plenty to all of the Coyotes because it was defenseman Ed Jovanovski's 1,000th in the NHL.

► Click here to read more about Jovanovski's feat and to watch a video tribute to his career.

"When you get a big win like this you want to enjoy it," Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett said. "That's why you play the game. Obviously (it was) a big night for 'Jovo.' He played a great game for us and to come in and get a win that's real special for him."

LaBarbera, who had surrendered 15 goals over his previous four starts, turned aside a penalty shot by Loui Eriksson in the second period (see KEY MOMENT below).

The Stars pulled goalie Kari Lehtonen for an extra attacker with 1:32 left, but Eriksson missed the net on a close-range attempt.

Phoenix (16-11-7), which has managed one goal in each of its last three games, went 2-3-1 on a six-game stretch of consecutive road games.

Photo by Getty Images.

Lehtonen made 24 saves for the Stars (21-11-4), who hadn't lost in regulation on home ice since Oct. 28.

Turris gave the Coyotes all the offense needed when he converted the rebound of Shane Doan's shot at 10:46 of the second period.

Phoenix nearly made the score 2-0 in the second period during a four-minute power play after Dallas' Brian Sutherby's stick struck Wojtek Wolski in the face.

Coyotes center Martin Hanzal appeared to score on a deflection at 15:11, but the goal was disallowed after a video review. Officials ruled that Hanzal's stick was above the crossbar, and the Stars went on to kill the penalty with several nice stops by Lehtonen.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Vest of phoenixcoyotes.com contributed to this recap.

With the game still scoreless, Dallas forward Loui Eriksson raced toward Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera on a breakaway. Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski hooked Eriksson from behind and Eriksson was awarded the second penalty shot of his career at 6:48 of the second period.

LaBarbera blocked Eriksson's attempt with his right pad.

"First, you try to think what their move is as he's coming down the ice," LaBarbera said. "When he came down to the top of the circle, I realized he was going to go low-blocker and I was able to stop it."

• Winger Mikkel Boedker notched his first point of the 2010-11 season when he assisted on Turris' goal in the second period.

• Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov missed his fifth game in a row because of an upper-body injury suffered vs. New Jersey on Dec. 15. Bryzgalov accompanied the team to Dallas and took part in the morning skate. He could return to action as soon as Tuesday vs. Anaheim.

• Forward Taylor Pyatt missed his second game since being placed on the injured reserve list with an upper-body injury suffered vs. Pittsburgh on Dec. 20.

• The Coyotes flew back to Phoenix immediately after the game. They will practice at noon on Monday at the Ice Den in Scottsdale. The practice is open to the public. Phoenix's next game is Tuesday vs. Anaheim at Jobing.com Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. (Arizona time). The game can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona and can be heard on XTRA Sports 910.

"Hopefully, we can take this game and go from there. (Ilya Bryzgalov) is the No. 1 one guy. I do my best to fill the role when I can. I'll go back to my normal job. I felt pretty good about the way I've gone."

"That's how we need to play; play our game and slow things down, work
them down low and spend as little time in our zone as possible."

"You don't want to go with the flow and play how the other team plays. We're a much better team when we take charge. When we don't, we're in trouble and that's what happened."